Microsoft Shows Off ‘Refined Blend’ of Windows 8

Microsoft on Wednesday pitched developers on changes it is making to Windows 8, the rapidly overhauled operating software for computing devices.

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled changes it is making to Windows 8, as the company seeks to win over software developers and consumers who didn’t universally love the company’s initial attempt to overhaul its flagship software for computers and tablets.

The changes Microsoft officials detailed at a San Francisco event include less jarring ways to switch between two modes of using Windows, new ways to search files stored on Windows computing devices and on the Web, and easier ways to do multiple things at once. Microsoft discussed ways for developers to build apps for 3D printers, and to make apps that pull in features of Microsoft’s Bing Web-search engine.

Microsoft also announced new Windows 8 apps that will be available, including from Facebook and digital-magazine service Flipboard, and company officials discussed how Windows software has been reworked for the breed of small tablets–like Apple’s iPad Mini–that boomed in popularity last year.

Many of the changes and refinements Microsoft officials described Wednesday already had been disclosed amid preparations for Windows 8.1, the name for the revamped operating software to be publicly unveiled in coming months. But it’s the first time Microsoft had an opportunity to show off Windows 8.1 to developers.

To enhance the software consumer and corporate appeal, Microsoft needs fun and useful software that will run on computing devices powered by its software. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and other company executives sought to pitch thousands of developers Wednesday on the business opportunity from making apps for Microsoft-powered gadgets, especially for Windows 8 and Windows Phone for smartphones.

“The future of Windows is very, very bright,” Ballmer said as he closed the two-hour keynote. “The opportunity as an application developer to use Windows to build next generation mobile connected experiences has never been better than it is today.”

The broad theme from Ballmer and others was Microsoft was responsive to gripes from users and developers about Windows 8. Ballmer, using a coffee metaphor to acknowledge user gripes about Windows 8, said Microsoft was “refining the blend” of the software.

The developers in the audience Wednesday cheered for one of those refinements: The return, in a different form, of the “Start” menu that had long been a navigation tool for Windows-powered computers. Microsoft took the feature away when it launched Windows 8 in October.

Also in a change to Windows 8.1, Microsoft is allowing PC users a new one-click option to skip the smartphone-style navigation mode and have their computers start up each time to the traditional Windows desktop screen.

Developers for months have been encouraging Microsoft to make those changes to make Windows 8 easier to use, but some people question whether the refinements go far enough.

“The tweaks to allow the desktop background underneath the Start Screen and the return of the Start button make it feel a little less like I’m running two PCs in one, but the difference is still jarring,” said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.

Windows executive Antoine Leblond also showed off a new feature to allow software developers to build apps to design a physical object in Windows 8 and then press a single button to transfer the data to print on a 3D printer.

It’s unclear whether many apps will be built to take advantage of these feature, but it’s notable that Microsoft is putting its weight behind the buzzy area of 3D printing, small machines that create three-dimensional objects like vases or jet-engine parts by “printing” layers of plastic or other materials.